


Jaig

by MandoKain



Series: Aliit [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Jaig is a sad story, it gets better though, the Click
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 11:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20191783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MandoKain/pseuds/MandoKain
Summary: The story of Jaig. He gets picked up after Fives, and this is the tale of how he ends up with Panther Squad.





	1. Ru'dinad

He was a bomb tech. Fairly simple job description. Build the explosives. Place the explosives. Find the explosives. Defuse the explosives.

Jaig excelled in the training. He could always, _always_ find the hidden mines, always figure out which wires to cut or change or attach to fuse or defuse the bombs, had the best aim with a grenade launcher. He put it down to good eyesight and good memory, and his batchmates said he must have eyes like a shriek-hawk, a jai’galaar, the screaming hawks that haunt Mandalore with their calls as they hunt. He took it as his name, Jaig, the same name given to the symbol of bravery.

It was on a battlefield the first time the vague, uncomfortable suspicion began to develop a distressing degree of certainty. Jaig somehow ended up isolated from his group in the flying blaster bolts, diving from an incoming bomb moments before it hit the ground. He didn’t so much hear where his vode were, so much as he felt it, and he took off running in their direction. Something told him to pick up the pace, and he rounded the corner just in time to see a brother, a batchmate running full tilt.

“_NO_!” The brother was thrown backwards, but not by the mine. Jaig shouldn’t have known, couldn’t have known, it was too dark and things were too loud and there was _no way_, but he raced forward, dropping to his knees, digging out and defusing the mine in record time. The brother was sitting, staring at him, before darting his eyes around. The Commander was some distance back, and the vod knew what the Force felt like. Still, he gave a quick thanks to his brother before darting forward again.

It was after that battle that the Commander took him aside. The _Commander_ (a Padawan, too young, they all were too young) took him aside.

“I didn’t do that and we both know it.”

“I don’t know what you mean, sir.”

(Jaig was shaking after. He’d thought maybe, on the barest edge of consciousness in the middle of the night, he’d wondered, but seeing it, knowing it, was something else entirely.)

“You threw him. And you couldn’t have known that mine was there. You knew before you even saw, didn’t you?”

“Sir, please-”

“You felt it.”

“Commander, you’re mistaken. I’m a clone, sir, we’re not meant to be-”

“You are, Jaig. I’ve had a feeling since I met you but this is my first real confirmation. You’re a Force user, Jaig.” Silence, for a long beat.

“Please don’t tell the General.” It was a whisper, the terrified whisper of someone hiding who has just been discovered, and doesn’t know yet if it’s a friend or an enemy silhouetted against the light.

“Not the General,” the Commander promised, and Jaig breathed again. The General would not have understood. Jaig did not belong in the temple, and furthermore wouldn’t have gone. “I’ll teach you what I know, in secret.”

And so the night sessions began. The Padawan was a little clunky, a little inexperienced, but they worked well together. Jaig had learned without learning how to focus himself and reach out in the Force, and the Commander helped him hone that, strengthen it, expand it. Soon Jaig could find anyone on the ship, if he tried and focused. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he was good. His Commander helped him see through the Force, and he realised he could feel through the wires of the bombs he defused what each would do. It was more than luck or insight.

The Padawan warily moved on to teaching him to use a lightsaber. This worried Jaig most. Lightsabers were so different from any other weapon: blasters had triggers, grenades had pins. Lightsabers were somehow more and less than any other weapon he had used, so light and simple and yet requiring so very much work. He drilled the katas he was taught with a stick, kept hidden in his bag. He could feel his own strength and he was proud, but in part it scared him. Knowing this, being somewhere between clone soldier and Jedi, was too dangerous.

He found a crystal on a mission and kept it.

———

“You have to go.”

“What?”

“Jaig, you can’t stay here anymore. It’s too dangerous.” The words that had niggled at the base of his skull for weeks. “You’re strong enough that the General will sense you soon. You have to leave before that happens.”

“But my brothers-”

“Will be fine.”

Jaig took deep breaths. His world was rocking, but he knew the Padawan was right. “How do I leave?”

“I’ll help you. Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” How could he not? This was his Commander, his teacher. He trusted them more than almost anyone.

“Good. Take this, you’ve earned it. I have more.” The Padawan shrugged off their robe and gave it to him. They were shorter than he was. It made almost a long tunic on him, and after putting it on Jaig put his belt over it, then replaced his armor. “Meet me in the Hangar tonight. Say goodbye to your brothers.”

Jaig’s brothers did not ask why. They knew well enough what kind of goodbye this was. The hugs were fierce, the tears stung, but when the night came it was time to leave. The Padawan had asked if he could make it without getting caught. Jaig could. He was good enough now.

The Commander bid him goodbye, holding him almost as tight as his brothers.

“Go safely. May the Force be with you, Jaig.”

“You too, Commander.” And Jaig was gone.

He practiced his skills on his own, working to hone those he had and develop new ones. He kept the crystal. It took time, and effort, but he built himself a lightsaber out of spare parts. It’s a very pale blue, different from the Jedi, less white and more silver at its core. It’s designed to be useful: he can carry a set of small poison or smoke bombs in the end of the hilt for a quick getaway, there’s a small knife that clips into the side, it has a nonlethal setting. He wore the Padawan’s robe like a long jacket, now accompanied by a long vest and done over with a belt. He’d been on his own six months, by the time Cain found him. He was lonely and alone and wary as a cat gone feral, but he remembered the Padawan, saw his brothers with the young Twi’lek, and decided it was time he had a family and began his training again.


	2. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When four different Force-sensitives picked up on something at the same time, it was kind of a big deal.

They were definitely wary. When four different Force-sensitives picked up on something at the same time, it was kind of a big deal. Cain was going carefully. The thing that was throwing them off most was that it felt like a clone. Although they were all unique, there was something about clone Force signatures that, for obvious reasons, tied them all together. But this was a clone signature with a serious tweak. Cain reached out, hesitantly, with the Force, and the signature grew stronger. They picked up the pace, heading towards it, and the footsteps behind them picked up too. “I wonder...” They had two ideas. One, the signature was that of a clone-Jedi child. The other... incredibly unlikely. None of the others felt this intense. But that feeling...

Cain rounded the corner and froze. It was strongest here. They held up a hand in a fist, and Blink and Careen stopped as they came around the corner. Careen opened his mouth, but Blink shot a look at him, then at Cain’s closed fist: silence. The pilot nodded after a moment. Cain gestured for their vode to wait, then made their way forward alone. This alleyway was dim, buildings above making the space feel closed in and dilapidated awnings near the base blocking even more light. Cain closed their eyes briefly, then took another step forward. 

“Who are you?” The voice was quiet, its Concord Dawn accent coloured with suspicion, and Cain sensed an undercurrent of fear. 

“I’m no threat,” they replied, keeping their own voice quiet. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I sensed something interesting and decided to check it out.” There was a huff. Cain suddenly went very still. If they’d had hair on the back of their neck, it would have been standing. The beam of light was pale blue with a silver core, and although it wasn’t raised, the hand that held it was steady enough to show that its owner knew what they were doing. Cain heard the plasteel-against-fabric scuff from behind them and held out a hand. “Blasters down,” they called back sharply in Mando'a. They felt the hidden figure’s surprise. 

“A Mando Twi’lek? You take that lightsaber?” The saber wielder stepped out of the shadows, but their hood was still up. Cain frowned slightly. 

“That’s a Padawan robe.” 

“I’ve never met a Jedi who speaks our language.”

“And I’ve never met a clone with a lightsaber before.” Cain’s gaze levelled at the face under the hood, curious, but not hostile. There was a beat. The blue lightsaber went out, and the clone reached up and pulled the hood back, revealing shoulder-length hair and a face covered in a cat-like pattern of tattooed spots, starting below his cheekbones and coming up across his forehead. Cain noted more going down each side of his neck, and wondered briefly how far they went, and how he’d gotten the scar across the top of his nose. 

“I’m not a Jedi,” was what they said. “Leastways not anymore. I’m Cain Toqema.” 

He studied them for a moment and looked them over. Cain stayed where they were, and got the distinct sense that came with being Force-scanned. It faded after a brief pause, and he nodded. 

“I’m Jaig.” 

“How’d you get a Padawan robe? I may have been gone for a while but I’m sure I’d hear about a clone being accepted into the Temple.” They obviously hadn’t, and the question hung in the air. They’d never go so far as to accuse him, but their wariness had returned. Jaig waved a hand. 

“It was given to me by my Jedi Commander before they got me out.” He looked at them, then at the two clones some distance behind them. “If you aren’t a Jedi anymore, who are the others? They have a strong connection with you.” 

“Friends. Fellow escapees of the GAR.” 

“Are there more of you?” 

“Yes. You can meet them, if you like.” Cain saw him tense. “Don’t worry. You won’t be going back to the Army. None of us are.” Jaig seemed to hover in indecision for a long time. Finally, he nodded. 

“One more question.” 

“Go ahead.” 

“You left the Temple–“

“Yes,” Cain nodded. 

“And from what I can tell you don’t intend to go back–” he continued. 

“Nope.”

“Nor send me there,” Jaig finished, his tone subtle, but firm. “Correct?” 

“Correct. Myself and my friends are, shall we say... less than fond of the Jedi Order after the whole war thing.” 

“Define ‘less than fond.’” A lopsided grin rose on Cain’s face. 

“Myself, my brother, and our two friends, all ex-Padawans, are all of the opinion that the Jedi council are hypocrites, that they have no place in war, and that they can go fuck themselves.” 

Though he didn’t smile exactly, Cain felt a lightening of Jaig’s spirit. 

“My question is, then: will you teach me?” 

“If you decide to stay, then anything you want to learn that I know, I’ll be glad to teach you. And if I don’t know it, there are three other Force-users you can ask. As long as I can ask you to teach me things you know, if I don’t know them.” They stopped themself and made a slight face. “Did that make sense?” 

“Yes. That made sense. Anything you don’t know that I do, I’ll teach you.” 

Cain smiled, a genuine smile then, and gave him a nod. “Good to meet you, Jaig. Come meet my family.” 

“Family?” 

“It’s me, my Togruta girlfriend, and as of right now, five vode. That’s Blink, and that’s Careen. The rest of the crew are either around, or on ship.” 

“What about your brother and the other ex-Jedi?” 

“Same deal.” 

“How many people?”

“Well, there’s my little crew, my brother, two Mandalorians, a pair of Twi’leks, a Kiffar, two Corellians, a Sith Pureblood and her squad who left with her, and about 80-odd rescued clones.” Cain smiled, and they approached the other two clones who were waiting at the alley entryway. 

“Blink, Careen, this is Jaig.” 

“Jate’urcye gar, vod,” Blink nodded, holding out a hand to shake. Jaig hesitated before clasping his arm. Careen did the same, and Jaig returned the gesture. The RC was more stoic, but the pilot was grinning. 

“...Nice to meet you too,” Jaig said awkwardly. 

“Sorry for going for blasters,” Blink told him. “I know Cain’ika can handle themself, but you know how it is.” 

“No offence taken,” Jaig nodded. 

“Overprotective much?” Cain teased. Blink rolled his eyes. 

“With you, there’s no such thing as overprotective.” 

“He’s right, vod’ika. You’re a reckless little menace,” Careen agreed with a straight face. 

“Says the pilot named _Careen_,” Cain replied dryly. 

“Hey!” 

Blink laughed, and Jaig looked between them all, hearing the easy banter. He could feel the affection, the connection between them all, and the way Blink and Careen called Cain ‘little sibling.’ Something fell into place for him. Cain looked over at him, and he met their eyes. 

_ Click_. 

Cain smiled. 

“Come on,” Blink told them, setting off and trusting them to follow. “Let’s find the others and head back to the ship, so we can have proper introductions with the new vod. You gonna stay, Jaig?” 

“I...” Jaig looked over at Cain again, and then nodded. “Yes. I think so.” 

“Good. Cain, send out a message?” 

“On it.” They got out their comm, sending a message to the other three Force-sensitives. 

_ Found the weird. F-S Clone named Jaig. He’s joining Panther Squad. See you soon. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve always loved the idea of Force-Sensitive clones, so Jaig was my experiment of what that might look like. After he leaves the GAR, he gets spots tattooed over his face, down his shoulders, torso, and legs, as a form of disguise. People are less likely to know him as a clone, and more likely to look at the spots instead of his facial features. Also, he thinks they’re pretty.


End file.
